SAP continues to deny allegations of kickbacks

Cape Town - Software company SAP on Tuesday once again strongly rejected allegations of kickbacks made by investigative units Scorpio and amaBhungane.

AmaBhungane and Scorpio revealed that in August 2015, SAP signed a “sales commission" agreement with CAD House, what the units call "a small Gupta-controlled company that specialises in selling 3D printers".

In the view of the investigative units the terms suggest "a thinly-disguised kickback arrangement: If the Gupta company were the 'effective cause' of SAP landing a Transnet contract worth R100m or more, it would get 10%".

SAP ended up paying CAD House R99.9m, which to the units suggest that SAP "used the Gupta influence network to drive sales of a billion rand to Transnet and other state-owned companies".
 
In a statement SAP said the accusations made around the use and payment of subcontractors are unfounded and unsubstantiated.

"SAP is dedicated to conducting every aspect of our business responsibly and in accordance with the highest global compliance and legal standards," according to the statement.

"As part of its day to day business, SAP SA engages various subcontractors, SMEs and partners and it has always been and will continue to be SAP’s policy to partner with a wide pool of organisations that qualify for our partner programme, if those organisations successfully meet the exacting criteria of our global due diligence and certification processes."

SAP said it has taken strong exception to the allegations reports and is investigating possible action.

The software company did not react to emailed questions posed by Fin24.